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Executive departments and agencies
Beneath the President and Vice Presi-
dent are 15 departments and numerous
agencies which together make up the
“government” that we see every day. They
are responsible for administering the law,
enforcing it, and delivering various gov-
ernmental services. Their functions are
far-reaching and affect the lives of every
American.
The 15 departments are:
• Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Department of Commerce (DOC)
• Department of Defense (DOD)
• Department of Education (ED)
• Department of Energy (DOE)
• Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS)
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD)
• Department of the Interior (DOI)
• Department of Justice (DOJ)
Federal government agencies collect data, as well as
initiate programs. This scientist, who works for the U.S.
Department of Energy, uses an aircraft to collect data
on air pollution over New England.
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• Department of Labor (DOL)
• Department of State (DOS)
• Department of Transportation (DOT)
• Department of the Treasury
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Each department is headed by a sec-
retary, who is appointed to the position by
the President subject to Senate confi rma-
tion. The departmental secretaries by law
make up the President’s Cabinet, a group
of people who advise the President on any
subject relating to their responsibilities.
The President may also accord cabinet-
level status to other top Executive Branch
offi cials. Typically this includes the Vice
President, the President’s Chief of Staff,
the director of the Offi ce of Management
and Budget, and the U.S. Trade Repre-
sentative. Other positions that are cur-
rently or have recently been considered
cabinet-level positions are the director of
the Environmental Protection Agency, the
director of Central Intelligence, and the
President’s national security advisor.
In addition to the cabinet-level depart-
ments, there are numerous independent
Executive Branch agencies and commis-
sions, some of which are quite large.
Some examples include the U.S. Postal
Service, the Environmental Protection
Agency, and the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).
Regulatory agencies are an espe-
cially powerful type of agency. They are
Old-age pensions, known as Social Security in the United States, are paid to millions by the U.S. government.
Above, printed checks wait to be mailed from the U.S. Treasury’s fi nancial management facility in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Presidential Succession
T
he Department of Homeland Security is the nation’s newest cabinet-level depart-
ment. The date of creation is important because the presidency passes to the Vice
President in case of death or incapacitation of the President. If the Vice President is
unable to serve, the line of succession is as follows:
• Speaker of the House;
• President Pro Tem of the Senate;
•
Department secretaries, generally in the order the departments were
created, beginning with the Secretary of State.
empowered by Congress to make and
enforce rules governing specifi c parts of
the economy often dealing with complex
technical issues. Major regulatory agen-
cies include:
• Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC)
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
• Food and Drug Administration (in HHS)
(FDA)
• Federal Communications Commission
(FCC)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC)
• Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (in DOL) (OSHA).
Together with other regulatory agen-
cies, these bodies make rules that affect
nearly every business and consumer.
Commission members and agency heads
are appointed by the President subject
to Senate approval. Their rules have the
force of law, but may be challenged in the
courts or overturned by Congress.
Of all the independent agencies, none
is more independent than the Federal
Reserve System, the nation’s central bank
also known simply as “the Fed.” The
Board of Governors of the Federal Re-
serve is responsible for establishing the
nation’s monetary policy, setting inter-
est rates, and determining the supply of
money. Decisions made by the Fed have
far-reaching effects on the nation’s econ-
omy, interest rates, infl ation, job creation,
and international trade. In fact, many
consider the Chairman of the Board of
Governors to be the second most pow-
erful individual in government after the
President.
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